When Bayingolin was first established in 1954, it was an area with the Mongols comprising 35% of the prefecture's population.[2] However, in 1960, the Chinese government annexed to it a neighbouring Uyghur area, after which the prefecture occupied one-third of Xinjiang's, and the Uyghurs far out-numbered the Mongols.[3] Due to steady immigration, the Han Chinese population has also increased significantly. In 1947, there were reportedly only 1,682 Han Chinese in Xinjiang's Eighth District (roughly corresponding to today's Bayingolin in area), and that increased to over 660,000 in 2004.[3][4]